This report provides a much more robust discussion of the consequences of national security of climate change, the threats of which are mostly long-term but can also have short-term consequences, the report said.
“This year we are seeing increasing potential for migratory congestion by Central American populations, as a result of the economic downturn of the Covid-19 pandemic and extreme weather, including multiple hurricanes in 2020 and a number of years of recurring droughts and storms, “reads the report.
It adds that the economic and political implications of the coronavirus will resonate for years, predicting that the economic damage will exacerbate instability in some countries, although it is not mentioned.
Combined with the extreme weather caused by climate change, the report states that the number of people worldwide who are starving will rise to 330 million this year from 135 million. The report states that the pandemic disrupted other health services, including polio vaccinations and HIV treatments in Africa.
The Director of National Intelligence usually submits the threat assessment to Congress and publishes a written report. No downgraded rating was issued last year as the Trump administration’s intelligence agencies tried to anger the White House.
In 2019, Dan Coats, then the director of national intelligence, provided an analysis of threats from Iran, North Korea, and the Islamic State that were contrary to President Donald J. Trump’s views. The evidence gave Mr. Trump was forced to fight him on Twitter and admonish his intelligence chiefs to “go back to school”.
Avril D. Haines, the director of national intelligence; William J. Burns, the CIA director; and other top intelligence officials will testify on Wednesday and Thursday about the report.